Courts / Dublin / Report

Senior Kinahan cartel member jailed for 11 years over murder plot

Date
2021-09-02

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Senior Kinahan cartel member Peter Keating has been jailed for 12 years by the Special Criminal Court for directing the activities of a criminal organisation between December 7, 2016 and April 6, 2017, within and outside the State. Keating (40) pleaded guilty in July of this year to directing the activities of the crime group in their failed attempt to murder Hutch gang member James 'Mago' Gately. The judge noted that Keating was a 'senior figure' for the Kinahan Organised Crime Group and a 'repository of trust and confidence' for the cartel. The sentence was backdated to July 1, 2020, and the final year of the 12-year term was suspended for two years. Keating entered into a bond of €100 to keep the peace for two years. The judge gave Keating a 25% discount for his early guilty plea, which saved a costly trial. The court heard that Keating was involved in the commission of a serious offence and played a significant role in the surveillance of Gately and his family regarding the proposed murder. The investigation highlighted the transnational outreach of organised crime, with Estonian hitman Imre Arakas (62) jailed for six years in December 2018 for conspiring with others to murder Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and 4, 2017. Arakas was arrested before the planned attack on Gately could be carried out. Caolan Smyth (30) was sentenced to 20 years last February for attempted murder in relation to a second attempt on Gately's life in May 2017. The matter was adjourned and never described as concluded or finalised.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Senior Kinahan cartel member jailed for 11 years over murder plot. Charges or matters: directing a criminal organisation, it was accepted he was receiving directions from others; conspiring with others to murder Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and 4, 2017. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

December 7, 2016 Other
April 6, 2017 Other
July 1, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
April 2017 Other
April 3, 2017 Incident
December 2018 Incident
April 3 Incident
May 2017 Incident
March 28 Other
March 30 Hearing Or Sentence
April 6 Incident
Christmas Other
2021-09-02 Publication

Case subjects

Caolan Smyth

Convicted Person

Charges: directing a criminal organisation, it was accepted he was receiving directions from others (Alleged Or Contested)

Imre Arakas

Defendant

Charges: conspiring with others to murder Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and 4, 2017; directing a criminal organisation, it was accepted he was receiving directions from others (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Arakas (62) was jailed for six years in December 2018, having pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to murder Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and 4, 2017. At Keating's sentence hearing, Det Sgt Carolan told Dominic McGinn SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions that Arakas's arrival into Dublin Airport on April 3, 2017 was noted by gardai who then watched as he walked around areas of Dublin 1 that are associated with the Hutch organisation.

Senior Kinahan

Convicted Person

Outcome: Senior Kinahan cartel member Peter Keating, who admitted directing the activities of the crime group in their failed attempt to murder Hutch gang member James 'Mago' Gately, has been jailed for 11 years by the Special Criminal Court today. Speaking outside the court after Keating's sentencing, Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland said: "Today's sentencing for Peter, also known as Peadar Keating, for 12 years' imprisonment for directing the activities of an organised crime group within and outside the State is a significant development for An Garda Síochána's strategy to disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups participating in violence, which is the scourge of communities." Chief Supt Boland said that "three people have now been convicted of criminal conspiracy to murder an individual [Gately] in Belfast in April 201